Without DeMar DeRozan from the third quarter on, the Chicago Bulls nearly completed a 16-point road comeback over the NBA-best Boston Celtics Monday night.
However, despite drawing within two points in the final minute of regulation thanks to a scoring barrage by Zach LaVine, that bid fell just short in a 107-99 loss that dropped the Bulls to 19-22 on the season.
Here are 10 observations:
1. Billy Donovan whistled for the first timeout of the game at the 7:25 mark of the first quarter amid a poor defensive start. In the first five minutes, the Bulls lost Jayson Tatum behind the arc for two 3-pointers, and Robert Williams inside for a pair of dunks, the latter of which came via a breakdown on the back line of screen-and-roll coverage. It was that play that preceded Donovan's timeout.
Boston scored 14 paint points (7-for-10 shooting) and pulled ahead by as many as nine later in the period, but the Bulls rallied with a 10-4 run to trail just 28-25 after one.
2. That run preceded a back-and-forth second quarter, which the Celtics eventually closed on a 17-7 surge to erase a one-point Bulls lead and build a 59-50 advantage of their own at the break. Then, they answered a 9-2 Bulls run to open the third with a Tatum avalanche.
In a 67-second stretch, Tatum converted an and-one, then drilled two 3-pointers in rapid succession to expand a four-point Boston lead to 13. That advantage ballooned as high as 16 later in the period.
This spurt underscored a damaging game-long dynamic of the Bulls losing Tatum often, particularly on mishandled switches in screening action he was involved in. The Celtics' star finished 32 points on 10-for-21 shooting, 4-for-11 from 3-point range, but even that fine shooting line featured some open misses. He also capped off a seven-assist performance by setting up Al Horford for a dagger 3-pointer that put Boston ahead 104-99 with 25 seconds to play.
3. The most significant development of the third quarter was DeRozan leaving the contest with what the team later diagnosed as a right quad strain. It occurred on this play, when he appeared to tangle his legs with Horford:
DeRozan has played in 136 of a possible 142 games since signing with the Bulls (including all 40 this season) and leads the NBA in appearances since he was drafted in 2009. He's durable — and, of course, essential to the Bulls' success. So stay tuned for updates.
4. The Bulls could have easily laid down following DeRozan's exit, especially after the Celtics pulled off a couple demoralizing sequences — they pulled down six offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter alone — to stretch their lead to double-digits as late the 5:18 mark.
But the Bulls' remaining two stars would not allow it.
5. First, it was LaVine, who sparked the comeback bid by scoring or assisting on nine consecutive points from 10:12 to 7:37, cutting an 89-75 deficit to 89-84. He began that stretch by assisting a Derrick Jones Jr. layup and finished it with a stepback 3-pointer and two driving layups.
Then, after the Celtics punched back with two Jaylen Brown drives and a Grant Williams and-one to make the score 96-84, Nikola Vučević banked home a layup, followed by another five straight points by LaVine to again make it a five-point game. Minutes later, Vučević and LaVine would drill back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a 99-97 game with 2:17 to play.
In all, LaVine scored 15 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, overcoming a slow start that saw him miss six of his first seven 3-point attempts. Vučević, who feasts on Boston's switching scheme each time these teams meet, had 21 points for the game and seven in the final frame.
6. However, the Bulls' comeback bid came up just short. The play that will be parsed is LaVine pulling up for a midrange jumper that rattled in and out with 50 seconds to play and the Bulls trailing 101-99.
NBA
Sure, there were 17 seconds left on the shot clock and and Celtics defenders had fits staying in front of LaVine on drives all night. But ultimately, that is a situation where you live and die with the instincts of your best players. The Bulls lose this game by double-digits without LaVine's heroic contributions earlier in the fourth quarter. Boston players were loading up on his every move by that point, as evidenced by Tatum helping over in anticipation of a drive. And the shot did go halfway down before popping back out. So this is probably not the bout of shot selection to parse too deeply — and neither is the pull-up 3-pointer he missed over Horford moments prior, given LaVine had sunk an identical shot earlier in the quarter.
7. Neither made particularly loud contributions on the stat sheet, but Williams and Ayo Dosunmu were a factor in keeping this one tight down the stretch as well.
Williams has never been shy about relishing competition against the best players in the NBA, and has showed it in his last two games against the Celtics, whose wing tandem of Tatum and Brown certainly qualify. In this one, Williams knocked down three 3-pointers and nabbed three steals while, with the exception of a reach-in that gave Tatum two free throws with 1:46 to play, providing solid on-ball defense.
Meanwhile, Dosunmu had a handful of slashing layups and stymied Brown on this possession, which ended with a contested rebound by Williams. This would have been all-important play if the Bulls had completed their comeback:
8. In all, the Bulls allowing 107 points to the NBA's highest-rated offense looks good on paper. However, they got a touch lucky to see an off shooting night by the normally sharp Celtics — 11-for-41, 26.8 percent from 3-point range, including a handful of open misses. In lieu of raining jumpers, Boston scored 44 points in the paint and shot a whopping 15-for-17 at the rim. The Bulls' containment of dribble penetration continues to be a defensive issue.
9. On the bright side, Alex Caruso returned from a two-game absence with a sprained ankle to play 20 minutes in this one. He knocked down two 3-pointers and handed out four assists, and can probably expect his minutes to increase as he gets back in the swing of things.
10. The Bulls entered play with a 7-3 record against the top five seeds in the Eastern Conference — 2-1 against the Celtics, 2-0 against the Nets, 2-0 against the Bucks, 0-3 against the Cavaliers and 1-1 against the 76ers.
Monday's loss means they split the season series with Boston. And it dropped the Bulls to 19-22 on the season. But with the way they competed early in the contest, and scrapped to a close defeat even after DeRozan went out, the Bulls should leave this contest further heartened by their ability to compete with the league's elite in an especially wide-open NBA season.
Next up: At the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
Click here to follow the Bulls Talk Podcast.